The European HD DVD promotional group said Wednesday that the HD DVD format is winning the battle against Blu-ray in Europe, as HD DVD players outsell Blu-ray disk players by three times. The promo group does not count the number of Blu-ray-capable Sony PlayStation 3 game console, however, the claim is still significant as those, who want to watch movies, not play video games prefer HD DVD.
The European HD DVD promotional group claimed it had 74% market share in Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Switzerland for standalone players, citing sales figures it commissioned from market research group GfK, reports Reuters news-agency. It is unknown how many Blu-ray and HD DVD movies were sold in Europe and how many of them were sold during various marketing campaigns.
The HD DVD promo group also remained tight-lipped over the number of players sold to retail, but considering that even the U.S. has acquired just about 150 thousand HD DVD standalone players, the European Union hardly consumed more.
The success of HD DVD is a result of standalone players pricing, which is well below that of Blu-ray disk standalone pricing. Toshiba’s spokesman for the European HD DVD group, Olivier Van Vieandal, said surveys had shown 70% of consumers would be prepared to buy a high-definition player once prices fall below $200, but currently HD DVD players cost about €399 ($549), which means that HD DVD has not yet become a commodity product and the winner of the two formats battle.
“You can’t get to mass-market consumption until you get to mass-market pricing,” said Steve Nickerson, a Warner Bros spokesman for the HD DVD group.
But Mr. Nickerson is reported to have said the high-definition video market was developing faster than the DVD market had.
“If we take a pragmatic approach, and understand we’re still only selling to innovators, we are ahead of the DVD curve,” he claimed.
Blu-ray and HD DVD formats compete for replacing the DVD standard. HD DVD discs can store up to 15GB on a single layer and up to 30GB on two layers. Its competitor, Blu-ray, can store up to 27GB per single layer and up to 50GB on two layers, but Blu-ray discs are more expensive to produce. The HD DVD is pushed aggressively by Toshiba and NEC as well as being standardized at the DVD Forum, which represents over 230 consumer electronics, information technology, and content companies worldwide. Blu-ray is backed by Sony and Panasonic, which are among the world’s largest makers of electronics. Among Hollywood studios HD is supported by Warner Bros. Studios, New Line Cinema, Paramount Pictures and Universal Pictures, whereas Sony Pictures, Walt Disney, Warner Bros. and Twentieth Century Fox endorse Blu-ray.
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